{"id":208242,"date":"2026-10-20T19:52:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T16:52:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/208242\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T19:52:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T16:52:16","slug":"two-foreigners-attempt-irregular-belarus-lithuania-crossing-through-culvert","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/208242\/","title":{"rendered":"Two foreigners attempt irregular Belarus-Lithuania crossing through culvert"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n (vsat.lrv.lt)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

October 20, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> Two third-country nationals have tried to enter Lithuania from Belarus through a culvert on the border in the Druskininkai municipality early this morning, the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two men entered the 2.8-meter-diameter culvert but were blocked by a metal gate designed to prevent unauthorized entry into Lithuania. Both were carrying metal shears, which they were presumably planning to use to cut through the barrier. They spent just over a minute inside the culvert before hearing approaching border guards, prompting them to retreat to Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lithuania has thwarted nearly 1,700 irregular crossings via Belarus since the start of 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The flow of people eager to cross into the EU surged in spring 2021 after Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka, angered by EU sanctions, had indicated that Minsk would not prevent asylum seekers from Africa and Asia from using Belarus as a route to the EU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June 2021, the Belarusian government suspended a readmission agreement with the EU in response to sanctions that followed the forced landing of a Ryanair flight in Minsk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latvia, Lithuania and Poland call the migration crisis a \u201chybrid attack\u201d orchestrated by Minsk and Moscow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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